Monsters Calling Home is a phenomenally talented group of Asian American musicians from the Los Angeles area. My family has been listening to their EP since I caught them live at UCSD for a LiNK benefit concert.

I hear echoes of Arcade Fire, Stars, Local Natives, and Beirut in MCH’s sound (which I’ve been using to try and reprogram my daughter’s proclivity towards certain kinds of awful, soul-stealing pop music. Don’t get me wrong: I love me some Since U Been Gone, but some of these easy-listening barefoot acoustic guitar crooners are a bridge too far.), and yet a unique sound all their own.

The other day, as we were driving to school in the morning and singing along to the MCH track Growing Up, my daughter and I had a great conversation about faith, courage, and what it means to pursue God’s dreams for us.

From Growing Up:

I used to close my eyes to what stirred under my bed
Now they’re open wide to the monsters in my head
Instead of claws they whisper lies, sinking fear in quiet steps
So I will fight in the light till i give my final breath

My daughter asked me about who was whispering lies, was it Satan? Is Satan the enemy we have to fight? Yes, yes, the devil means to steal and destroy, but we don’t have to be afraid. Jesus has conquered sin and death and He intends to restore everything that is broken in this world.

We then talked about what might be whispering in our ears to distract us from living out God’s dream for the world. My daughter: Temptation? Maybe like if you’re going to give money for something important and you see a really cool shirt and want to buy it instead?

Then I asked her if she thought it would always be easy to follow God’s dreams for our lives. After a thoughtful pause, she replied, “No. It won’t be easy. It wasn’t easy for Noah. God wanted him to do something great, but it was hard work and people laughed at him. He might have been discouraged, but he did it.”

I pray that my daughter never loses the fight in her for Christ’s healing in this broken world.

She completed her third-grade science fair project recently: “Can the sun’s energy be used to purify water?” She diligently set up the experiments, took careful notes, and crafted a colorful and informative trifold board display.

But what she was most excited about was helping those affected by the world water crisis — the one billion people who don’t have access to clean water, the millions who die every year from water-related disease, and the countless children who cannot get an education because they spend so much time getting water (which is often dirty, anyways). I don’t know if she’ll become a scientist, but I’m so proud that she was excited to run this experiment in hopes of helping people.